Holden just announced a recall of over 25,000 2014 Commodore and Caprice vehicles due to a defect affecting both driver and passenger front seats.
According to the Australian brand, the cars may have been built with a defective weld in the bracket on which the seat is mounted. In the event of a crash, the defective weld could cause the seat to separate from the seat track.
This is not the first recall that the current Commodore and Caprice models have been involved in this year, as several other issues have arisen as well in May, June, and July involving a seatbelt, LPG fueling, and windshield wiper problems.
Owners of affected vehicles will be contacted by Holden in order to arrange an inspection, but you can find details of the recall by clicking here.
Comment
I got a letter from Holden a couple of weeks ago about the windscreen wiper issue. They said they would contact me again when parts become available. It is concerning given that they are pulling out of manufacturing and most of the local suppliers are to follow. Car manufacturers to the best of my knowledge are supposed to supply 10 years worth of spare parts in this country after a model run is finished. I have already heard of some people having issues getting parts for some of the more limited run models like the Adventra in which there are less than 10 year old examples around. It is generally electronic items such as wiring harnesses or computer bits for the AWD system that are mentioned. For obvious reasons these are more difficult to reproduce unlike items such as plastic mouldings or other bits of trim.
It makes me wonder how much longer I am going to be able to keep my only 1 year old Commodore on the road in a way that is affordable once the 5 year warranty finishes, should I wish to keep it. I’m sure there will be plenty of feedstock from the 10 year spare parts store and wreckers for basic mechanical items that are common to all VEs, but what will happen in 10 years time if the reverse camera or touch screen in the dash breaks down which are more variant and MY specific?
What are other people’s experiences? Especially those that own vehicles from other GM divisions that have closed manufacturing (Hummer anyone).